March 29, 2010 - Jeffrey H. Sloman, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and John V. Gillies, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, announce the indictment of George Joseph England on charges of transporting a minor to Florida in 1977 for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity.
The four-count indictment, filed yesterday, charges England with transportation a child for the purpose of illegal sexual activity, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2421; coercion or enticement of a victim, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2422; coercion or enticement of a minor, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2423; and possession of child pornography, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2252(a)(4)(B). If convicted, England faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years on the child pornography charge, 10 years on the coercion of a minor charge, and five years each on the transportation and coercion charges.
This investigation began in 2004 when the alleged victim reported to the FBI that England had sexually abused her beginning in 1972, when she was 5 years old. According to the complaint affidavit previously filed in this case, the victim met England in 1972, when her mother sold her to him in Vietnam. Thereafter, England travelled with the victim through Asia before settling in Orange County, California in the early to mid-1970s. While in California, England allegedly repeatedly forced the victim to engage in sexual intercourse and other sex acts with him.
The complaint affidavit also alleges that England encouraged the victim to invite her school and neighborhood friends to spend the night in their motor home in Costa Mesa, California. England had drilled a hole in the wall from his bedroom to the bathroom to watch the victim and her friends. England also mounted a Plexiglas box with a hidden camera near the bathtub, from which he took nude photos of the young girls bathing.
On October 21, 1977, England was convicted by a California jury of molesting three of the alleged victim’s friends, ages 9 to 10 years old. England fled with the then-10-year-old victim to Ft. Lauderdale before sentencing. An arrest warrant from California was issued soon thereafter.
According to the complaint affidavit, upon arrival in South Florida, England assumed a false identity, using the name Stephen Arthur Seagoe, to avoid being arrested on the outstanding California warrant. During this time, England allegedly continued to sexually assault the child almost daily. He also encouraged her to play sex games with other children as he watched through a hole he had drilled in the wall.
In 2004, the victim disclosed the alleged abuse to the FBI and provided information on England’s alias to assist law enforcement in arresting England on the 1977 outstanding California arrest warrant. On May 18, 2005, England was arrested after he tried to obtain a passport in his false name. He was charged and pled guilty in July 2005 in the Southern District of Florida to passport fraud. After his arrest, law enforcement seized several of his belongings, including a computer that contained numerous images of child pornography. Ultimately, England was sentenced to 14 months’ imprisonment on the passport fraud charge.
After serving the passport fraud sentence, England was extradited to California and sentenced to four consecutive life terms of imprisonment on the 1977 child molestation case. After an appeal, England’s sentence was reduced. He was scheduled to be released from jail in California on March 12, 2010. Prior to his release, however, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida filed a complaint, charging England with transporting the victim to Florida in 1977 with the intent that the child engage in criminal sexual activity and possession of child pornography.
An indictment is only an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
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